All We Once Knew
by Rukagohime
Summary: Sakura is not like her fellow students. She’s strange; new. And she’s got a closet overflowing with skeletons that she’s desperate to keep hidden. How to hide them though when the most popular boy in school, has taken a sudden interest in you? Sasu/Saku
1. Art Project

**All We Once Knew**

Chapter One: Art Project

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does.

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Haruno Sakura was weird. Anyone at Konohagakure academy could tell you that, though not much else. She'd moved here with her parents almost a month earlier and she'd faded into the background almost instantly. She wasn't an interesting girl—on the small side with long hair she wore in a knot at the back of her head. She had an odd sense of fashion; ratty jeans three or four sizes too big, kept on with a studded black belt. Her converse tennis shoes were just as old, with long tears in the sides, the black material a faded grey. Her shirts were usually decorated with the faces of band members—from bands that had been popular years before she'd been born.

She never wore makeup—never made any effort whatsoever to fit in with her peers or try to make herself appear attractive. Sakura should have been interesting. She should have drawn people to her. Most of the "unique" kids were popular and created new waves of fashion statements. Sakura, however, wasn't one of them. She literally repelled people.

Said girl was walking the halls of her high school, a bag slung over her shoulder carelessly. Her torn shoes slapped quietly against the linoleum floors, lost in the noise of a thousand other feet. She was looking at a book in her hands, studying the embracing lovers on the cover with a look of distaste on her face.

Her cousin had sent her the book in the mail as her "birthday" present, along with a note that had been longwinded and irritating to read. Karin—her cousin—really had a hard time getting to the point when she was riled up about a subject. And her favorite subject to get riled up about was Sakura's love life, or lack thereof. Basically Karin was hoping Sakura would read the book and take some notes on wooing a man and finally snag herself a boyfriend. Though Sakura _really_ couldn't see the period drama helping much.

She would probably end up reading it, though she knew it would be painful to sit through it. Karin would be coming to formally celebrate Sakura's seventeenth birthday with the rest of the family in a few days and she'd undoubtedly have a cow if Sakura hadn't read it by then. Sakura dodged a gaggle of girls who were laughing obnoxiously as they gossiped about boys in their class. It was girls like these that made Sakura wish her foster parents had given into her pleading to do the rest of her high school work online.

Sakura had even found some really great online schools that would help her graduate twice as fast, but they hadn't taken the bait. Sakura knew they wanted her to have a "normal" childhood, and they'd been doing their best to give it to her since she'd come into their lives, but she just really wasn't made to mingle with idiotic bimbos who cared only about their appearance in a mirror.

Not Sakura's favorite thing to have to deal with.

As if on cue the girl's cell phone began to ring; a familiar tune that meant her foster mother was calling. Sakura quickly fished out the phone from her backpack and answered the call. She hurried outside and away from the shouting, trying to hear the woman's soft voice. "Sakura? Honey?"

"I'm here mom," she replied, half-running towards a tree still on school grounds but not close enough to the actual building to hear the chattering teenagers. "What's up?"

Shizune sighed lightly and Sakura could hear her clicking her pen. It was a habit the woman had always had for as long as Sakura could remember. "I'm going to have to stay late tonight. Your grandmother and I have a case that we just can't leave."

Sakura leaned against the tree and nodded, though Shizune couldn't see her doing it. Often times her foster mother's work at the hospital forced her to stay through the night. "That's fine. No worries."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"I'm fine mom," Sakura assured the woman. "Dad'll be home after awhile and I can make us something to eat."

"Alright, sweetie." Sakura had never liked pet names, but Shizune had been using them so long that it'd be weird not to hear them. "I love you. Be careful on your way home."

"I will, I will. Bye mom."

"Bye Sakura."

Sakura snapped her phone shut, pursing her lips and looking up at the stretch of blue sky overhead. It was unusually nice for late March; she was used to chilly weather around her birthday, but this year it seemed that she was finally going to get a warm birthday. The girl pulled out her car keys and made her way once more through students, heading to her beat up car. Her grandfather, Jiraiya, had bought it for her the previous year and it had taken a lot of elbow grease to get it running. Not all that well, but as long as it ran, Sakura didn't care.

Sakura slid into the driver's seat, tossing her backpack into the passenger's side. The car took a moment to start, groaning and spluttering to life quite loudly. She wasn't bothered by the noise and ignored anyone who looked over to stare at her beat up mini and laugh. The radio still worked, but only got oldies stations, mostly. She liked oldies, so she didn't mind this either.

Sakura shifted the vehicle into gear and it rolled forward. The girl was an excellent driver and she paid more attention to the road than most of her peers, so she was able to weave through the other teen drivers and out of the school parking lot in a matter of minutes—a far shorter wait than everyone else.

Free from the maze-like parking lot it would not take her long to get home; her house was close to the school. It was one of the main reasons her mother had insisted they spend the extra money buy the bigger house.

Less than ten minutes later, Sakura was parking her car in her allotted space in the driveway and getting back out. She paused to get the mail, shuffling through bills to see if she'd gotten anything. She had gotten something: two something's, to be precise. A letter from her scatter-brained childhood friend Naruto and another from her cousin. Not Karin this time, but Tayuya, Karin's younger and wildly eccentric sister. The girl skipped up her sloping drive and unlocked the front door, kicking it shut behind her.

She tossed the bills onto the marble counter in the kitchen and sat down on a stool next to the island counter to read her letters. Tayuya's letter was short; wishing her a happy birthday and assuring her she'd be getting a present. There couldn't more than two paragraphs, but there were at least fifteen curse words that Tayuya had somehow managed to squeeze in.

Naruto's was interesting. He'd drawn himself and Sakura on the inside of the envelope, though it didn't much look like them as much as it resembled two fat blob people with exploding heads that Sakura figured was supposed to be hair. Naruto assured her he'd be coming to her birthday and that he'd be bringing her an exciting present. Which was probably a bad thing, considering that Naruto and "exciting" were _not_ words meant to go together.

Sighing in worry, Sakura pushed away from the table and headed upstairs to her room. She set the letters down with the book on her desk and flopped down on her large bed, sinking down into its soft plush. Faced with nothing to do for the rest of the afternoon, Sakura let her mind wander around her day. School was, well, school. She'd been bumped into a few times by the moronic cheerleaders who thought that they ran the school. And they practically did. Ino had every male student in that place wrapped around her slender finger.

And those who didn't _want_ her, wanted to _be_ her. Ino had beauty, money and the body that followed along, to make her the most eligible bachelorette in school. So it would only make sense that she would date her mirror-image Sasuke. Like Ino his pockets overflowed with money, and with money came privilege. He could have gotten by without either; his beauty was legendary and he had been scouted for numerous magazines, all of which had been declined to protect the image of his father's company.

For one reason or another, Sakura really seemed to get under Ino's skin. Not a day went by that Ino didn't have some sort of scathing remark for Sakura. It was becoming almost routine. Today had been a ritual example; Ino insults Sakura's clothing, Sasuke agrees in that bored "I don't really care" tone, and anyone listening in laughs.

It was nothing unusual; Sakura was used to people thinking she dressed like a hobo, so she hadn't been much bothered by it. Annoyed, perhaps, but her emotional attachment to appearance had long since been severed.

The girl sat up as the front door opened, followed immediately by her father's voice calling up the stairs for her. She leapt out of bed, not realizing how much time had passed and raced down the stairs.

"Welcome home. Sorry, I haven't started dinner yet."

Kakashi looked up from where he was toeing off his work shoes and smiled at his daughter, his handsome face made even handsomer with his smile. "That's fine, Sakura. Your mom staying late?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah. She and grandma got some case they couldn't leave."

The man nodded and ruffled her hair as he passed. Already he was undoing the tie around his neck and sinking back into his normal appearance; loose tie, un-tucked shirt and some sort of soda in his hand. He ducked into the kitchen for the latter.

Kakashi and Shizune were an odd, mismatched couple that some how fit together perfectly. Sakura, though an unusually shaped puzzle piece, had somehow fit in as well.

Sakura's parents had died when she was six and whatever she remembered about them, she tried to ignore. Her grandmother Tsunade, an incredibly famous doctor who specialized in neurological disorders, had taken her in for awhile after their deaths, though it was a strain on her and her husband, since were ill prepared for a child. And then Tsunade had met Shizune—a newly wed bride who'd just gotten the devastating news that she wouldn't be able to have children.

It was a brilliant stroke of fate and Shizune had been more than willing to adopt Sakura. They'd given the girl love and attention and, despite Sakura's past trauma and reluctance to accept new parents, it had worked out in the end. Sakura could barely remember her parents anymore, and most of the time she tried not to. Kakashi and Shizune were her family now. She didn't need anyone else.

"What do you want for dinner?" she asked her father, following him into the living room as he lay out on the couch. Kakashi regarded her with his one good eye, scratching at his head with the hand not holding onto his soda.

"You know me; anything is fine."

Sakura thought for a moment. "Pasta?"

"Sounds great."

She smiled down at him and was rewarded with a thumbs up. "I'll get to it then." She stopped for a moment to look back at him. "Oh, hey, I forgot to ask."

Kakashi looked away from the television screen which was now showing a football game. It was an old game from a few years back. Sakura wasn't sure how he could watch the games over and over again despite knowing what was going to happen. "What's up?"

"Did you get an email from my teacher? She said she was going to send you that progress report."

Her father blinked up at her. "You're still wanting to graduate early?"

"Of course," Sakura said with a small scowl.

"I forget how much you hate high school sometimes." Kakashi rubbed a hand over the scar that had destroyed his left eye. "I'll check tonight and look over it, alright?"

"Thank you."

Sakura left the living room and wandered back into the kitchen, her mind on what to make to go with the pasta. Her parents were trying to be understanding about her reluctance to take part in social things—school being one of them—and thus far they'd been pretty good about it. She knew her mother wished she had friends (besides Naruto, who was now far away and "didn't count"). It was probably Shizune's way of pleading with Sakura to start hanging out with other females.

But at the same time they didn't know _why_ Sakura hated her school. Had hated all of her schools. Sakura got out the pasta and a large pot to boil the noodles in. She filled said pot with water and set it on the stove, walking around her island counter while she waited for the water to reach a boil.

Sakura probably shouldn't complain so much about her school life—it wasn't as though she was treated well…horribly. She didn't have friends, no one talked to her and on occasion people might make fun of her or push her around, but she'd rather it be like this. Sakura didn't _like_ people. The girls were irritating and got on her nerves; the boys absolutely revolting and the last thing she wanted was for them to try and make friends.

Seeing that the water had come to a rolling boil, Sakura poured the called for amount of noodles into the pot and watched them sink to the bottom. She probably should have salted the water, but Kakashi never noticed things like that, and she wasn't feeling up to anything but a moderate attempt to cook. She took a moment to crack open a can of green beans and poured it into a serving bowl. It wasn't that Sakura couldn't cook—she was quite good in fact. She just hated putting effort into things. It was the main reason she'd failed gym class eleven years running.

The girl stirred absentmindedly at the pasta and wondered about the next day, preparing herself for another day of horribly dull school life. Of course, had she known what was to unfold the next day, she may never have gone in.

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Sakura entered her third period class the next day feeling tired and bored. School was easy; most of the time she had nothing better to do than study and she always ended up months ahead of her classes. A vast majority of her teachers had figured out in the month she'd been coming to their classes that, even if she spaced out or napped, she was still going to pass the class and didn't bother her. They may have forgotten she was even in the class; she always picked seats towards the back of the classrooms and the teachers didn't watch the back as closely. They always put the problem students up front.

This period she had art. Something she both loved and hated. Sakura enjoyed drawing (though she was in no way good at it) and playing around with clay, but the class itself was slow-moving and boring. She always felt like falling asleep just by walking through the doorway. Today seemed to be different, however. Their teacher, a frail, elderly woman, was bouncing with excitement.

"Class." She called in her high, reedy voice when the period had officially begun. "I have something new for us to try."

She walked the length of the classroom, peering at them closely from behind her huge, thick glasses as though trying to make sure they were paying attention. She seemed satisfied with what she saw. She returned to the middle of the classroom and smiled.

"We'll be doing some clay work," she paused as the class cheered loudly. They'd been waiting weeks to decide if they were ready. "However, we're going to be doing the work as partners!"

Sakura slumped in her seat loosing all interest in the project. She had no desire whatsoever in working with some loser from her class. She focused on the interwoven circles she was drawing on her notepad and not on the teacher. It was probably this that made her miss the pairings being called out. In fact, she didn't start paying attention until a chair was scooted rather violently against her desk. She looked up sharply, freezing in shock as she stared at the boy leaning over her.

He was tall, lean and very good looking. And, from the cocky smile playing on his lips, he knew it. Uchiha Sasuke in the flesh. Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"So," the boy said conversationally, ignoring the fact that most of the classroom was watching their exchange with interest. "Your name is Sakura?"

Sakura eyed him for a moment and then dismissed him from her mind, returning to her drawing. Sakura was shy by nature, but with boys like Sasuke, it was hard to be shy when all she could feel was an overwhelming urge to smack the superior smirk off his face.

He smiled slightly. "I guess you missed the part where we became partners?"

Sakura almost told him she didn't give a rat's ass they'd become partners and stopped just in time. Let him figure that out for himself. She made one of her circles into an eye and then gave the eye a massive eyebrow.

"Don't talk much?"

"No." Sakura told him quietly. Her voice was low and rough but still sounded pleasant, somehow. "You simply talk too much."

He laughed. "Do I really?"

She didn't reply.

"You know." A hand appeared in her vision and her notebook was taken from her in a smooth jerk. "You really shouldn't doodle during class. This project is worth a large portion of our grade and I'm not willing to fail because of you."

Sakura pressed her lips together in a line. "That so? Then you'll have to do it by yourself. Give me back my notebook."

The black-haired boy smiled a thin, un-amused smile. "I don't think so. Why don't we get to work Sakura?" He waved the notebook a little. "I really don't appreciate being ignored, Sakura."

"And I don't appreciate things being taken from me."

Sasuke studied her, obviously surprised by her sharp tongue. Sasuke wasn't used to being ignored or having his orders refused; his family practically ran this school. He'd been born into money and privilege and people had _always_ automatically respected him for these things. He stared at the girl in front of him, studying her unappealing face with interest. Perhaps unappealing wasn't the right term; she wasn't beautiful like Ino, but she was no backwater hag, either. She was pretty over all—though her forehead was a little too wide for her face.

He held out the notebook. She frowned very slightly and took it back from him, looking suspicious. "Don't look at me like that," the boy said, his smile returning. "I'm not going to bite, really."

Sakura withheld the sarcastic retort on the end of her tongue, trying to focus on creating a matching eye for her first. As usual they were lopsided and not quite even. She finally abandoned the attempt to find Sasuke watching her, apparently not going to do anything until she did. She sighed in resignation.

"Fine."

The smile on his twisted into a smug smirk. Sasuke set down the clay he'd brought with him on her desk and raised his eyebrows, looking from the gray lump to her. "What shall we do, Sakura?"

"Don't care," she told him, putting away her notebook. While he considered what to do, Sakura rose to get herself a smock. While her fellow students might think her clothes were fit for a hobo, it didn't mean she didn't love them dearly. Everything in her wardrobe was comfortable and easy to wear. She picked one for Sasuke carelessly, not bothering to check and see if it would even fit him. Last she swiped some newspaper to cover her desk before making her way back to Sasuke.

He watched her with the blank, bored look he adopted most of the time. It was one of the reasons Sakura disliked him so much. Sasuke was—quite obviously to anyone who actually paid attention to him—incredibly bored with school and the people around him. Every smile he wore was fake, though well rehearsed and therefore a little harder to spot. Sakura, unfortunately for Sasuke, was very good at spotting false emotions.

She dropped the smock she'd brought him down into his lap, putting hers down in her chair. She took a moment to spread the newspaper over her desk evenly, not willing to have clay on her desk for the rest of the year—if the person who sat her chair in the art class after this got clay after all her work, she was hunting him/her down. Sasuke, with an almost bemused expression, lifted the smock and then smirked. Unlike his smiles, for the most part his smirks were pretty real. But then Sasuke was just a haughty asshole by nature.

Sakura ignored him and pulled on her own ugly green smock, making sure it covered her jeans. As it turned out, she'd grabbed the perfect size for Sasuke and he looked pleased that he wouldn't have to walk across the room to replace it. He sat back down, facing his chair on the other side of her desk so they could look at one another.

"Now," he said, flicking at some of the paint on his smock. "What will we be making, Sakura?"

She gave him a carelessly mocking look. "I already answered that."

"Oh right. You don't care." He abandoned the paint in favor of returning her mocking look with one of his own. It held far more scorn that her own—only because he had more practice, Sakura assured herself—and she bristled. He was looking around the room at everyone else getting to work on their clay projects. "The theme was animals. You can't think of an animal you like?"

"If it's such an easy thing to decide, why don't you pick?"

He shot her one of those impressively fake smiles. "Don't you want some part in this project?" So that's what it was. He was becoming annoyed with her. Feeling smug, Sakura decided to cave in this once. She ran a quick mental check for any animals she liked and could only think of Jiraiya and Naruto's odd love of frogs. Naruto would be visiting this weekend, by which time the frog would be done, so she could pawn it off on Naruto.

"A frog." She replied at length, surprising the boy, who'd begun to try and think of something as well. "I get to take it home."

"Sure," Sasuke said. His smile was now a touch amused. "Shall we start? I'll work on legs if you'll take the base."

Sakura nodded as way of answer and took a large slab of clay, dipping her fingers into the small basin of water Sasuke had gotten at some point. Probably while she'd been getting the smocks. She rolled the gray mush into a ball and began flattening it out, trying to lengthen but keep it round. Somehow she got the feeling instead of looking like one of his pet frogs, this was instead going to end up looking more like Naruto's frog wallet Gama.

Unlike the majority of the classroom, now that they were working, Sasuke no longer had a reason to keep up his conversation with her, and the silence was preferred. Sakura had said more to Sasuke in this one class than she'd said to anyone the entire time she'd been coming to this school. Later, when she was away from him and the curious eyes of their fellow students, Sakura would reflect on all she'd said and probably regret most of it. For now she wanted to concentrate on keeping her frog as frog-like as was possible.

She'd gotten the body finished and was working on the head when their teacher came back around, clearing her throat and sounding like she was trying not to choke up something. "Class," she called, "it's time to clean up for today. Please place your work in your cubbies and we'll continue tomorrow. Don't forget to put them back into the bags and get as much air out as possible."

Cubbies? Sakura snorted, putting the head and torso into the bag Sasuke provided her with. What was this—first grade? Sakura hadn't heard a locker by called a cubby ever.

"That was fun," Sasuke said, not sounding like her really meant it. He had removed the smock and was brushing off his expensive silk shirt. As usual he was dressed in clothes that were as flamboyant as they were pricy. Sakura had to admit that they were stylish and that he was suited for them, but it didn't make her any less disgusted.

She nodded tersely, finished with conversing with him for the day. She grabbed up her bag and headed to take the frog body to her locker. Sasuke watched her go, not saying anything. His eyes drifted down to the mess of newspapers and smocks she'd left behind for him to take care of. He grabbed up the discarded items and put them into their proper place, allowing his mind to wander.

Sakura was interesting in an outlandish, not his cup of tea sort of way. She made for interesting speculation and had helped the normally boring class pass much faster. But beyond that he could care less. Sasuke walked the frog limbs to his locker, allowing Haruno Sakura to slip from his mind effortlessly.

______________________________

Sakura stretched out her fingers, having set down the pen she'd been using to let herself rest. She was trying to finish her belated letter to Temari—a friend she hadn't seen since the move—and it was taking all her strength of will to do so. Temari wouldn't be able to make the drive down for her birthday this year and it was to be the first birthday she'd missed since Sakura was seven. It made the distance between Konohagakure and Suna seem even greater. She missed the heat and the food. She longed for her friends and the monsoon season that she was about to miss. Shizune had needed this move—they would make more money in Konohagakure, where Shizune's medical degree could be put to use.

And Kakashi finally had a job again after the company he'd worked for in Suna had gotten shut down. It'd been hard financially until they'd moved her and she knew she shouldn't be selfish about it, but she still longed to be home again. Konoha was no home, and there was nothing that tied her down. She had to friends. She still wasn't used to driving down the street and being blinding by outrageously green grass. And most of all she hated the people here—all of whom were as thick-skinned and selfish as the next.

Uchiha Sasuke was an excellent example.

He swaggered through her high school everyday, using his money to throw his weight around. It made her sick. Gaara—who was himself wealthy thanks to the inheritance his parents had left behind—would never have done something so prideful. Sakura cast a glance to her calendar, eyes lingering on the one day when she'd be able to pretend that life was moderately normal again.

Sighing, Sakura picked back up on the letter. The sooner she finished, the sooner she could finish her homework. The faster and better she did her homework, the quicker she could leave Konohagakure behind.

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Hi, I'm Rukagohime, and you've just finished chapter one! Please review and let me know if you liked it, I'll try and have chapter two out soon.


	2. Insight

**All We Once Knew**

Chapter Two: Insight

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does.

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Sakura headed towards her locker, weaving around students. Once there she spun the lock around with fluid practice, pulling out a small clay mold that was nearly finished. It'd been two days since her forced art project and the frog had been stuck together and baked and now it was time for painting. She hadn't really discussed with Sasuke—of course she hadn't, if she could avoid it she never said anything to the prick at all—what color they were going to paint the odd-shaped frog.

Sakura thought they'd done fairly well, though it seemed like the frog had just been stepped on, it still looked like a _frog_. Which was a lot more than many of the other students had been able to accomplish.

She cradled the frog against her chest while she stuffed her books into the back of her locker, not wanting them to be anywhere near her painting mess. She'd even worn her least favorite clothes today (Ino had been giving her horrified looks all day over them). Ratty gray pajama bottoms and a loose-fitting t-shirt with "get out of my way" written across the back. She had her hair tied up in a sloppy bun so that the words were visible.

The girl walked into her art class, ignoring the eyes that followed her. Shion—one of Ino's clones—gave her a nasty little smile as she passed. "You're looking…nice today Sakura," she said. The girls sitting around her snickered noisily.

Sakura almost continued by without saying anything, but gave in at the last moment. She forced her lips up into an imitation of a smile. "Thank you Shion-san. How kind of you." She raked her eyes over the girl's short skirt and frilly pink top. A cold shudder passed over her. "If only I could say the same about you."

Shion's mouth dropped open and she spluttered for a few moments, giving Sakura sufficient time to make her escape to her desk at the far end of the room. "Very nice," a male voice complimented from behind her. She craned her neck back just slightly to look. Kiba shot her a smirk.

Sakura returned it easily. She liked Kiba; he had that boyish look to him that reminded her greatly of Naruto. And, like her blonde hell-raiser friend, Kiba had a knack for getting himself into trouble. Her smile twitched at the spark of mischief in his eyes that was, by far, the strongest similarity to Naruto. He was up to something that undoubtedly have him in Anko-sensei's office by the end of the day. "What are you up to, idiot?"

He gave her a raised eyebrow, overtly innocent look. "I don't know what you're talking about Sakura. Shikamaru and I are just going to hang out behind the school—"

"Smoking." She cut in swiftly, letting him know she _still_ didn't approve of his and Shikamaru's favored past time.

"Smoking," he conceded easily. "And there's nothing criminal in that, is there?"

"There wouldn't be if you were legal to be smoking." She took the frog from it's protective wrap, feeling like showing it off. Kiba had force his partner into creating a tiny replica of Kiba's dog Akamaru (Kiba's, sadly, was one of the projects that ended up looking more like a log with legs than an actual dog). He blinked at the frog.

"Why'd you make a frog?"

Sakura scowled. "Why did that have to be the first thing out of your mouth Kiba? Can't you tell me its great or something?"

"Sure I can. It's a great smashed frog. Why in the heck did you make a frog?"

"It is not smashed!" Sakura yanked the frog back, giving Kiba a dirty look. "I made a frog because it's for your twin."

Kiba nodded in understanding. Though he'd never actually met Naruto, he'd heard enough stories to agree that they seemed to be replicas of one another. Allowing them to meet seemed like a pretty bad idea, but Sakura had reluctantly invited both boys to her birthday party. She was still nervously awaiting the outcome of her decision.

Their teacher stepped up as the bell rang and the two lapsed back into silence, Kiba picking up his amused grin once more. He definitely had some sort of prank planned. "Alright everyone," the woman called out, collecting the classrooms attention. "We're going to finish up with our clay projects. Since we've gotten everyone's clay animals baked we'll go onto painting and glazing them. I'll grade them at the end of the class and, if you want, you may take them home if I've finished grading."

Sakura nodded to Kiba as he got up to move, amused by his dorky back-wards wave. Her amusement died when Sasuke took Kiba's chair and sat himself next to her desk as he had done the last three days. One of his eyebrows was raised questioningly. "Your boyfriend?"

"No," Sakura snapped back, bothered by his easygoing assumption. "Just a friend."

Sasuke picked up their frog, studying it from all angles. "That so? Maybe on your side perhaps." She opened her mouth to ask what he meant but he cut her off smoothly. "What color are we painting this thing?"

Sufficiently irritated, Sakura told him in a tone that dared him to question her choice. "Green and yellow."

Sasuke nodded, showing that he really didn't care one way or another what they painted the stupid frog so long as he got a good grade for it. Sakura felt the odd desire to sulk and squashed it down. The boy stood suddenly, surprising her. Seeing her wide-eyed look, Sasuke's lips twitched. "I'm going to go get the paint. Relax."

Sakura scowled at his back as he walked away, angry at herself for letting him get to her. She wasn't sure why Sasuke was so easily able to rile her up, but it was beginning to grate on her already thinning nerves. When Sasuke returned, Sakura pointedly took the small tub of green paint and an equally small paint brush to work on her own, not saying a word to him. Sasuke, to her surprise, let this go and began to work in silence as well.

It was a comfortable silence, Sakura found with some surprise. They finished painting on the green coat quickly, neither talking even as they left it to dry. Sasuke was doing some stripes along the body with the yellow and Sakura began to doodle to pass the time. If she'd been an amazing artist, she may have tried to draw Sasuke; he made a nice picture at the moment. It was the first time she'd seen him so relaxed around her and she studied him with interest. His face was emotionless and blank, almost bored as he worked, but it was far more natural than a smiling visage.

The girl traced yellow stripes along the frog's underbelly, finally speaking as the class neared its end. "What did you mean earlier?"

He glanced up, "hmm?"

"You said 'maybe on your side'. What did you mean?"

The bell rang over head, cutting through their conversation like a cold blade. Sakura jumped in surprise, watching Sasuke collect up the brushes and paints. He shrugged, bringing her back to her question when he said: "he likes—that boy, I mean—you more than you think he does."

Sakura opened her mouth and then shut it quickly, too surprised to reply. Sasuke shot her one last amused look before leaving her desk, taking the paint supplies and cleaning up without ever asking for help. Sakura stared down at the drying frog, admiring they're work. She paused, however, noticing the red swirls over color dotting the frogs face and chest.

That bastard has purposefully added in another color! The girl huffed, made more annoyed by the fact that the frog looked a lot cooler with the additional color than it would have. She lifted the newspaper and frog and took it to the back of the room with all the other projects, taking a moment to label it so that she'd actually get credit.

By the time she'd finished Sasuke had made his escape, not allowing her to chew him out and to further demand information on Kiba's supposed romantic feelings. Pursing her lips in displeasure, Sakura grabbed up her books and headed out of the classroom, vowing to demand answers the next time she saw Sasuke.

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Sakura sighed gratefully when lunch rolled around after a long morning. The girl stopped by her locker to grab up the soda she'd snagged from home and the apple Shizune insisted she take with her. Sakura disliked eating lunch most days—Shizune always made a massive breakfast that left her feeling stuffed all day. By nature Sakura was a small, slim girl with a tiny appetite. Two large meals a day were more than enough for her to get by on—though Shizune seemed convinced she was about to blow away in the wind at any moment.

The pink-haired girl headed for the back exit, swerving around some kids to avoid being trampled as she went against the flow of bodies. She'd been eating outside with Kiba and Shikamaru for awhile now and it was beginning to feel natural that she eat with them. The boys were friends—though she hardly considered them enough of a reason to remain in Konohagakure should chance come to go back home, though she did feel guilty more often lately that they didn't mean more to her.

Sure enough Sakura spotted Shikamaru's legs as she headed towards a massive oak tree resting on the edge of the school's property. It was a secluded area that backed up against the large brick wall that fenced them in, and offered Kiba and Shikamaru enough privacy that they could smoke without worry at being spotted by a teacher. She grinned at them once she was close, raising her soda can in greeting.

"Yo," Shikamaru said on a sigh, sending a puff of smoke out into the air. He watched it dissipate, looking bored and tired.

The girl sat across from them, leaning against the cool brick wall. She rubbed her apple off on the front of her t-shirt and took a large bite, chewing thoughtfully. "You stay up again all night playing internet chess, Shikamaru?"

"Of course he did." Kiba interrupted. He was staring at the cigarette burning away between his fingers, looking oddly angry. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to you? Weren't you in a good mood this morning?"

Kiba ignored her question in favor of asking his own. "Just what is Sasuke to you, huh?"

"An irritation, why?"

"Are you sure?" the boy didn't look convinced in the least.

Sakura laughed. "Of course I'm sure! Why wouldn't I be?"

Kiba flicked the ashes from the end of the cigarette in a practiced gesture. They flitted to the ground, covering the grass like gray snow. He didn't answer her question and she turned to Shikamaru, not understand why the subject of Sasuke had gotten Kiba so riled up. The teen sighed heavily as though both were troubling him greatly.

"Kiba feels that you are abnormally close to Sasuke and does not like it." The brown-haired boy lifted his own cigarette up to his lips and drew in a lungful of smoke, exhaling it a second later. "You do seem rather close now that I'm thinking about it."

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest. "Why?"

Kiba muttered something, but it was Shikamaru who surprisingly continued to speak. "Sasuke's a plastic," he explained. "As fake as they come. But when he's around you his image chips and he starts looking more like who I imagined him to be." Shikamaru took another long drag and blew the smoke upwards, seeing Sakura's displeasure of having smoke blown out at her. "He's dark."

Sakura had to agree with him there. She'd begun to notice it little by little that under Sasuke's pleasant, fake smile, there was an anger that was bubbling over. "You think so, too?" The boy nodded.

"Stay away from him, Sakura." Kiba said sharply. He put out his cigarette in the small pot they kept at the base of the tree and crawled forward until he was sitting directly in front of her. "No joke. He's dangerous; if Ino thought even for a moment you were interested in Sasuke, she'd go bat shit crazy trying to get rid of you." He raked his fingers through his already messy hair. "Besides—if Shikamaru thinks he's dark, then he's probably got some evil twist."

"Kiba—"

The boy put his hands on her shoulders. "Just be careful, okay Sakura?"

"I promise I'll be careful." She leaned forward and bumped forehead's with him, sending him falling back onto his butt. "But there's really nothing to worry about; I'm not interested in Sasuke."

Shikamaru, seeing that Kiba was about to start another line of protest, cut him off, tired of his _obvious _jealousy and Sakura's _obvious _ignorance. "Lunch is almost over."

Kiba, remembering his food finally, retreated to hurriedly eat. Though, from the annoyed look firmly rooted in his eyes, the conversation about Sasuke was far from over.

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Sasuke stared at his reflection in the floor-length mirror standing before him. As usual he was decked out in the finest clothing money could buy—his hair shining after its afternoon wash. His tie was done expertly; his father would never forgive him if he attempted to leave the house without making sure his appearance was perfect. The boy sighed, turning away from the mirror and heading over to his expensive laptop. There was still some time before he and his parents were going to leave for the party that night and he wanted to check his email one last time.

He knew that Itachi hadn't emailed—that he would never email—but Sasuke couldn't help but open up the window to check, that small flicker of hope squeezing his lungs until he could hardly breathe. _Nothing_. Sasuke slumped back in the chair, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

It'd been almost three years since Itachi had betrayed they're father and been cut out of the family as though he'd never been apart of it. All for some woman who had no title, no money, no exceptional skills—she was nothing compared to the prestige of the Uchiha family, and yet she'd been enough that Itachi had thrown everything away to marry her. Sasuke couldn't understand it.

His brother had meant the world to him and his abrupt disappearance from Sasuke's life had changed his whole life. Suddenly Sasuke was the sole heir to his family's lineage and all of Itachi's responsibilities had been dropped upon his shoulders. His mother had practically gone crazy after Itachi was gone—her beloved pride and joy no longer accepted as her son was almost more than she could bear. Sasuke had always been nothing more than her replacement for when Itachi wasn't around and she longed for Itachi's return.

The boy had known since a very young age that his parents didn't love him. They didn't love Itachi either, but they'd always respected his brother. Been proud of him. Itachi was strong willed and a genius at whatever he tried his hand at. He'd easily accomplished things that would have taken another person a lifetime of hard work. Sasuke wasn't like that. Things didn't just come to him naturally—it was only through tireless work that he was able to follow in Itachi's footsteps, but he knew he wasn't what his father really wanted.

Fugaku was a man who never went back on his word—and yet he continued to try and coerce Itachi into coming back home. Going as far as promising that Itachi could remain with that woman, when he'd told Itachi before to never return. The same offer would never be given to Sasuke. He would never be allowed the freedom Itachi had been given easily.

But Sasuke continued to try—smiling when he didn't want to smile. Making polite with his father's business partners and even agreeing to marry that disgusting woman Ino for the sake of being everything his father expected him to be. He knew it'd never be enough that Fugaku would look upon him with pride, but it didn't stop him from _wanting_ it to be enough.

Sasuke straightened up with a snap as the door to his room opened slowly and his mother stepped in. She was wearing an elegant evening gown that fitted her slim form attractively. Her hair was swept up into a tight bun and held in place with a diamond clip. She tried to smile, but it was fragile and gone as quickly as it came.

"Sasuke, love," she said, walking farther into the room. "Your father is almost ready, are you?"

"Yes, mother." Sasuke's voice was empty. Mikoto froze however, hearing the underlining rage that danced at the edge of his tongue. The woman was far more perceptive than Fugaku, who either ignored Sasuke's growing hatred, or didn't see it. She swallowed anxiously.

"How are things going with Ino darling?"

Sasuke nearly sighed, realizing that she was going to drag on another pointless conversation. He knew that she hated being around him; he could clearly see her desire to leave the room and get away from him. He forced himself to smile, feeling irritated. "Fine, mother. Ino is very…nice."

Mikoto fiddled with the silk wrap on her shoulders. "Oh? I'm glad to hear that, love. I was worried that you were having problems since you have to keep this quiet." She tried once more to look happy. "But don't worry dear, soon your father will finish this new merger and we can release your engagement to the press."

"I'm sure Ino would be happy to hear that," Sasuke replied. His mother licked her lips and looked as though she wanted to say something more. Instead, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, having to stoop because he was still sitting. It was an awkward embrace and Mikoto released him almost instantly.

"You should come down soon. Your father won't want to wait." The woman turned and fled from the room, disappointed that hugging Sasuke didn't compare to hugging her beloved Itachi.

Sasuke clenched his hand into a fist over his heart, is head dropping down. For just a moment the boy allowed the deep longing in his soul to fill him up with agony. More than anything Sasuke desired the love of a family—the love of anyone, really. But not his mother's hesitant love as she tried to replace him with Itachi, nor Ino's false romance. Real love. Sasuke wanted to find someone in this world who might actually love him for who he was.

The boy rose, laughing quietly. What a fairy tale that was. In his world there was no room for love. Itachi had ruined his life chasing love, and this was one time Sasuke was not about to follow his brother.

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Karin gossiped away, ignoring that Sakura was ignoring her. She and Tayuya had already arrived by the time that Sakura had gotten home after school and had taken that time to fill up Sakura's room with their crap. Sakura tried to totally tune Karin out, wanting to focus on what had transpired that day. She'd had an odd conversation with Sasuke—about Kiba, no less—that had led to her being asked if she was actually close to Sasuke.

"And that's why I really think you should get a boyfriend, honestly." Karin clapped her hands together, startling Sakura. She poked a long-nailed finger at Sakura like a bad omen. "Have you been listening to me? No, right? Geez Sakura, here I am giving you awesome advice and you totally tune me out!"

"Sorry," Sakura responded sheepishly.

"Sorry doesn't cut it! Have you even read that book I gave you?"

"On page two hundred almost."

Karin frowned, but conceded that this was good enough for now. "As I was saying—"

"If someone normally acts one way—but around someone else he acts differently does that…equal something more in a relationship?"

Karin's speech stuttered to a stop. Her eyes went round with shock. "Wait, wait! He, as in a boy, and obviously from the way you worded that means you're the one he acts differently around…tell me everything!"

Sakura stared at Karin for a good minute, hating Karin's ability to both see through her best worded diversions and her habit of jumping to conclusions. Not feeling up to listening to Karin complain all night, Sakura told her about Sasuke. When she was done, she could see that Karin was convinced they were in love with each other and hastened to get across that she didn't have feelings for the boy. "It's not that I have feelings for him, well, no feelings besides an _extreme_ dislike it's just…"

"Just?" the girl prompted. Karin was sitting on her knees on Sakura's bed, staring at the girl with obvious anticipation. Sakura avoided looking into her eyes.

"He feels lost. It…" Sakura squeezed a pillow in her hands tightly. "I feel like I'm looking at myself. I see the anger in him and I can't help but remember how I felt then."

"Sakura, I—"

Sakura stopped Karin's upset flurry of words before she could even start. "Don't bother, Karin. I see Sasuke and I see how I might have been."

The red-haired girl moved forward and embraced Sakura tightly. Sakura allowed it, knowing that she probably needed the comfort even if Karin was holding her a little too tightly and cutting off her air supply. Karin sat back and Sakura saw that her eyes were swimming with tears. "I'm so sorry Sakura—I should've just let it go. I didn't mean for you to have to think of all that."

"Like I said; don't bother." Sakura grinned slightly. "I have a wonderful family now. Those memories no longer hurt me anymore." She played with the edge of her quilt. "Though I can't help but worry about Sasuke. I just get the feeling there's no one offering him the love that saved me."

Karin adjusted her glasses higher on her nose and nudged Sakura lightly. "Maybe you're the one who'll give him that love, hmm?"

Sakura laughed humorlessly. "No." Her mind drifted to Ino, remembering the slimming dress she'd worn that day and how Sasuke hadn't left her side. Her laugh turned a touch bitter. "I'm not his type."

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Author's Note: Shion is not an original character. She is from the first Shippuden movie (and is a total betch). Also, for those of you concerned about why Sasuke was acting strangely, I hope this chapter cleared that up for you. You'll find out more about Itachi's wife later, but she's _based_ off an original character. Itachi's nameless lover whom he killed in the original manga. Because she's not been named, I'm going to give her a name and appearance.

See you in chapter three!


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